Caught On Tape: Cop Jumpkicks Suspect After Shooting Him

As regular readers are no doubt aware, there’s been no shortage of “caught on tape” police moments over the past several months. Thanks to police cruiser dash cam video, bystander cell phone recordings, and in one case, aerial footage from a local San Bernardino news helicopter we’ve witnessed a South Carolina police officer shoot a fleeing, unarmed man in the back, watched as Arizona officers battled an invincible family band in a Wal-Mart parking lot, looked on incredulous as a US Marshall destroyed a citizen’s cell phone, and followed Sheriff’s Deputies through the desert as they chased (and subsequently beat) a man who fled on a stolen horse.

Today we bring you the following clip (circa 2012) from Texas Department of Public Safety trooper Abraham Martinez’s dash cam. Martinez was pursuing one Steven Gaydos whose crime was running a stop sign while driving a motorcycle on a suspended license and carrying two percocets in his pocket. After a high speed chase Martinez apparently decided to “disable” the bike by shooting it four times but unfortunately ended up shooting Gaydos instead. Realizing he was shot in the thigh Gaydos appears to pull over with the intent to surrender when, completely inexplicably, Martinez executes a running jumpkick to Gaydos’ midsection.

Apparently shooting a Texas motorcyclist in the thigh during a high-speed chase wasn’t enough for one state trooper, who ended up performing a leaping kick into the man’s lower body after eventually pulling him over.

The incident began after then-25-year-old Steven Gaydos ran a stop sign in Texas’ Chambers County. The case actually occurred back in December 2012, but only surfaced recently after the Austin American-Statesman newspaper conducted an investigation into how cops deal with fleeing suspects.

The chase was captured by Texas Department of Public Safety (DPS) trooper Abraham Martinez’s dashcam as he raced behind Gaydos, yelling at him to pull over. Speeds of 130 miles per hour were reached during the chase and at one point, Martinez took out his gun and shot it four times in Gaydos’ direction.

Martinez said he was only aiming to “disable” the motorcycle, but he ended up striking Gaydos in his right thigh with one of the bullets.

Eventually, Gaydos could be seen slowing down as he reached an intersection and decided to pull over. However, as he tried to dismount from the bike, Martinez is seen jumping in the air towards him and kicking him in his left thigh.

Gaydos was taken to the ground and arrested. He was charged with evading arrest, driving with an invalid license and possessing two Percocet pills, the Statesman reported. Gaydos said at the time he knew the police were chasing him, but claimed he didn’t want to lose his bike because of a suspended license. He also questioned whether it was necessary for Martinez to shoot him.

And while that might seem like a reasonable question to ask if you’re Gaydos, Martinez would later explain that usually in these situations the suspect turns out to be a murderer or a rapist:

“Past experience has taught me that people evade arrest to conceal their identity after committing felonious crimes to include but not limited to, murders, aggravated robberies, sexual assaults, burglaries, and/or the vehicle utilized to evade arrest is stolen,” he wrote regarding the incident, according to documents from his personnel file.